By Amy Tennery
PARIS (Reuters) -Ryan Crouser of the United States got his bid for an Olympic shot put "three-peat" off to the right start on Friday as he threw a solid 21.49 metres to finish third in his group in the opening round.
The world record holder has battled with a nerve issue in his elbow this year but showed no sign of weakness as he easily threw the shot as far as he needed to, preserving his strength for Saturday's final.
Italian world championship silver medallist Leonardo Fabbri produced the longest throw with 21.76 on his third attempt, while Czech Tomas Stanek registered a season's best 21.61.
"I didn’t expend much energy tonight, so it felt like a shake-out," Crouser told reporters.
"I was confident in my strength. I could go out and post an easy one and get out of here."
Crouser, who has also won two world titles to go with his Olympic golds, has said he believes he could improve his own world record of 23.56 this year.
That was clearly not on his mind, however, as he did not make another attempt after his opening throw.
"I have been putting a marker at 21 metres and throwing at that in practice for five or six days," he said.
"I knew that with the energy in the stadium I would pick up about half a metre, so one centimetre off what I was expecting to throw, so it’s pretty much spot on."
The other two men on the podium in Tokyo, American silver medallist Joe Kovacs (21.24) and New Zealand's Tom Walsh (21.48) also advanced.
They finished behind American Payton Otterdahl (21.52) in Group B.
The men's shot put final is set for Saturday.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery, editing by Ed Osmond and Ken Ferris)
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